Tuesday, March 29, 2011

TWISTED was recently featured on WFMU radio’s “Seven Second Delay” , hosted by Andy Breckman and Ken Freedman. As per usual, our segment followed a live on-air nipple-piercing of a 56-year-old man and preceded the music stylings of a folk guitarist. The interview with Sara begins about 36 minutes in.

Balloon twisting, like mime and ventriloquism, is perfect fare for the radio. Sara made a balloon version of the recently pierced host. For at-home listeners, this balloon could have looked like anything. But because we love you, dear readers, we’re including some photos.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

We presume you're picking out a gift for us on this, the fourth anniversary of TWISTED's world premiere at South By Southwest. Fruit and flowers are apparently the gift of choice for year number four (d'uh - as if you didn't know). To celebrate the day, we are unveiling our new facebook page.

In 2007, at this moment, we were leaving a few pre-screening interviews, reveling in the offer of free hair and make-up experts to spruce up our tired selves. We'd been on the go non-stop for too long to remember and after starting the film in 2003, four years later we were beyond excited to finally share our work. Balloon twisters flew in to build us amazing sculptures and our supportive families learned to make balloon dogs and spread the word to people of Austin.

As we drove to The Dobie Theatre (RIP), our nerves filled the car. We remembered a nice moment, a few years earlier, when we filmed Vera in Arizona. We stayed on her couch, the bearers of much good will to us as indie filmmakers, and felt the excitement as we got up, started filming, and saw her family begin to arrive for her college graduation. After years of hoping her goal was achievable, Vera's sense of pride was very moving. While dancing around the living room, someone put on a song from "The Little Mermaid". Suddenly, the whole room was singing "Part Of That World". The silly, pretty song we all knew the words to - about a longing to have something you'd admired for so long. For Vera, it was a chance to learn about medicine. For us, it was a chance to actually call ourselves filmmakers, after years of wondering if we'd ever finish. As we sat in the car four years ago, remembering that moment (which we couldn't include in the film... damn you music rights!) we needed something to calm us down. So, we rolled down the windows, and sang that song at the top of our lungs.

Now, TWISTED has been out in the world for as long as it took us to make it. As many people who have taken on creative projects know, it is a constant learning curve. Though the film itself was done in '07, we spent the next few years learning about distribution, marketing, theatrical runs, DVD releases and international sales. Just last week, someone from Israel told us he'd seen TWISTED on TV - we're big in other countries... the David Hasselhoff of balloon docs. Even now, we are still learning about online opportunities and hope to one day make it to TV in the U.S.

Thank you all for all of your support over the years! We know so many smart, supportive, creative friends - and it was our honor to teach many of you your first balloon dog.

About Me

TWISTED Balloon Dog T-shirts!

Everyone's been asking us so--YES--our super hip balloon dog Tshirts that you've been seeing right here on our blog are now for sale for $20! Please mail a check made out to Eliot Lives Productions along with your size and mailing address and you too can be a member of Team TWISTED!